Toy construction



April 7, 1925 R. S. KNAGGS TOY CONSTRUCTION Filed March 1.9, 1924 axINVENTOR A ITORNEYS Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES Roy s. Kansas, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOY QQ sm Q I Q- Application filed March 19, 1924. Serial no. 700,296.

To all whom it may ounce/"n:

Be it known that I, Roy S. KNA'o s, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county andState of New York, have invented a new and Improved Toy Construction, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to toy construction, and more particularly aimsto provide a .new and useful constructor unit fora toy of the typeincluding a set of selectively en"- gageable units, whereby said new anduseful unit or a plurality thereof may be read.- ily and securelybut'impermanently connected to other units of the set for the purpose ofbuilding up more or less'e'la'borate structural combinations.

A further object is to provide a constructor unit as just characterized,and of the heretofore suggested sheet-like multiple-ply type, but inwhich the sheet-elements thereof, preferably of cardboard as heretoforealso proposed, are permanently connected together at points removed fromthe bound- .ing edges of the component sheet-members rather thanmarginally bent and interfolded so as to produce'more than a twoplythickness at the bounding edges of the finished unit. Constructor unitsof the kind last described, that is, having the bounding edges of thecomponent sheet-members marginally bent and inter-folded, have thedisadvantages, among others, that the sheetmembers for making .up theunit are expensive and troublesome to assemble; that such units arelimited to rectangular or at least polygonal outlines; that the unitsare of at least triple-ply thickness at their marginal portions and ofquadruple-ply thickness at their corners, but only of two-ply thicknessat points removed from suchedges andcor- 11ers; that the gripping edgesintended to he provided the marginal portions of the two sheet-membersfor frictionally holding an introduced portion of another unit,

are interrupted at each corner; and that the intertolded sheet-membersalways have a tendency to buckle and separate at their portions intendedto lie close to and parallel with each other, thereby to destroy thedesired sheet-like character of the unit and the anticipated frictionhold of the marginalgripping edges.

Qne of the important objects of the present invention, therefore, is toprovide a constructor unit which may be made up, and desirably is madeup, of a plurality of fiat and unfolded sheet-members arranged face toface and permanently secured to gether. to provide sheetlike grippingjaws" marginally of the unit, with the sheet members secured together atpoints removed.

from the bounding edges thereof and with said jaws uninterrupted allaround the unit.

Another object is to provide a new and improved constructor unit inwhich thesecuring means is of such character and so applied as topresentditferentportion-s of-the component sheet-members asgripping-jaws of dn'ierent depths, so that a plurality of I auxiliaryunits of dissimilar types may be readily employed in connectiontherewith,

especially for the building upof..blocks,*

columns, gables, and other sub-stiaic-tures eventually to be joined toproduceanyide.

sired toy building, bridge, or the like.

Still another object is to provide a twoply sheet-like constructor unitof. the utmost simplicity, and yet one "in which all the advantagesaforesaid may be obtained; while, also, means may be incorporated --.to

facilitate the rapid inter-engagement therewith of a plurality of otherunits of the set.

The invention will be more clearly under stood from thefollowingdescription, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, showing a preferable embodimentotthe new constructor unit, andalso showing a part of a constructor set including a plurality of suchunits and participla-rl-y adapted for. the making of toy buildings.

In this drawing,

1 is a perspectiye view showing a portion of one type of toy building incourse of erection;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section, taken on -line22 ofFig. L;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, taken on lined-30f Fig.1; I

Fig.4 1s a perspective view of the new constructor unit with which. thepresent invention is primarily concerned;

Fig. 5 isan'enlarged sectional view, taken on line 55 of Fig. 4- andFig. 6 is a perspective viewoolf oneof the simpler auxiliary units shownin Figs. 1, 2 and 3. i

The unit T of Fig.1, it will be noted,

includes merely two flat and unfolded cardboard sheets 7 and 8, arrangedface to face and secured together to provide sheet-like gripping awsmarginally of the unit. The

sheet 7 is here shown as rectangular, and square, and the sheet 8 is ofidenticaloutline except for the cutaway corners 9, the purpose of whichcorners will be hereinafter explained. I

The securing means for the. sheet-members are Wire staples 10, whichare, of wellknown type and which provide on opposite L sides of theunit, opposed and aligned clinching lengths as marked 10 in Fig.

and intervening portions 1O piercing the unit. 1

f Thefour staples beingiarranged as.

shown, that is, sidewisely facing the four corners of the .unit, andextended alongv lines substantially paralleling the diagonal lines ofthe unit, result in the provision of a unit which has many advantages.In, tl1e' firstplace, :such staples secure thev sheets 7 and; 8 togetherat different dis tances inwardly of the bounding edges of the unit. IThis establishes av plurality of dissimilar pairs of gripping, jawsalong each straight sideand at the related corners of the unit. One ofthese pairs of jaws is what may be termed a pair of striptypejaws aslongas the side of the unit;

such, for instance, as shown to the right of the dot-and-dash line 11 ofFig-4', and

it which is particularly adapted to receive and securely yetimpermanently seize and hold a bent-over marginal str p-like tab such ascarried at 12 by an auxiliary constructor unit 12,as shown in Fig. 6.The stops provided r by the converging ends of the pair ofstaples 4Omine the depth of the strip-like pair of jaws 10 as seen in Fig. 5, andwhich stops deterjust described, are such, it will be seen, as

' to permit said staples to co-act iii-providing three other pairs ofgripping jaws. 'One-of these latter pairs of jaws is what may bedescribed as a triangular jaw, that is, a jaw located at the corner ofthe unit, and the inner line or third side of which is at'or justoutward of'and parallel with thestaple 10 at that corner. Such a pair oftriangular gripping jaws is found very useful for constructing buildingsof elaborate architecture, and particularly for the making of cornerbays, balconies, or the like; in amanner' which will be well understood,but which, for purposes of simplicity, is not shown in the drawing. Thethird andfvery important type of gripping jaws provided at; each sideof-the unit, as the result of arranging the staples 1O diagonally asdescribed, is what may be termed a central deep-tliroated pair ofgripping jaws located f between the dot-and-dash lines 14 of Fig. i;and'which is particularly adapted for receiving and securely yetimpermanently seizing and holding an end portionof a small strip orcard'member as shown at 15 in Figs.1 and 3. The purpose of this member,hereinafter called the tying unit, is to attach andlock together each ofa pair of contiguous and horizontally matched, par tially completedblock-compartments including four walls, of which Walls, two of thewalls, as the walls marked W in Fig. l,

are the floor and ceiling, and of which the other two walls, as thewalls marked W in Fig.1, are. a pair of oppositely facing side wallsjoining floor and ceiling- The staples 10, especially when arranged toprovide pairs of dissimilar gripping jaws all around theunit of Fig.,t,as above described, are particularly adaptedto bind the jawsof each pairtogether for normal extension parallel to and in face contact with eachother, thus always insuring the secure yet impermanent grip abovereferred to.

In 1 is illustrated aconventional wing or other subdivision of a house,such subdivision being two stories in height, each story having two,rooms, the floors and ceilings of which are formed by units of "thetype shown in Fig. 4... Thesecondstory roomto .the left of Fig. 1 isshown as topped and finished by a gable or pitched roof 16 formed by apair of the units of Fig. 6 suitably secured'togethcr, as-by theapplication of an'adhesive to their bent- -over tabs 12, at the meetingends of "said unitswhich are to form the ridge of the roof.. The similartabs at the opposite ends of these roof-forming units areinserted andare also inserted andseized similar striplike tabs of the Fig. 6 units,marked 12 in Fig. 1, which form the side walls of the seized between thesame narginal strip-like aws of'theunit T- of Fig. 1, between which roomthe ceiling of which is formed by the unit T of Fig. 1. "The tabs at thelower ends of these units 12 are inserted and seized between thesamestrip-like marginal.

j awsof the upper unit W of Fig. 1, between which are inserted andseized the marginal tabs at the upper ends of the two units which formthe vertioal'walls W of Fig. 1. Thusthe units T, W, Vi and'12 of Fig. 1for-m av columnar structure, and other simisuch column of any desiredheight; and a plurality of such columns, as clearly shown lar units maybe'added as desired to make to force sheet 7 slightly away from sheet 8at such corner, and thus facilitate insertion of the tab 12 between'thesheets for subsequent speedy adjustment relative to the pair of grippingjaws selected.

With a constructed set of the kind just described, it will be seen thatthere is practically no limit to the size and particular architecturaltype of building which may be erected; and this is especially true whenit is recalled that the unit of Fig. t carries uninterruptedly allaround and particularly at the corners thereof, pairs of gripping jawsas above described.

The sheets 7 and 8, forming the unit of Fig. 4, and also the sheetsforming the units of Fig. 6 and the tying strips 15, are desirably madeof a semi-flexible and somewhat resilient material which has a rigidityabout that of the ordinary playing card, as light cardboard, celluloid,etc. If desired, the cards or the like constituting the units of Fig. .6may be suitably colored to represent roof or wall structures havingwindows or doors, or an uninterrupted wall of clapboards, brick orstone, with special cornice efi'ects; and, also, these cards may be cutout to represent doors, windows, lattice work and the like.

I claim:

1. A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set ofselectively engageable units; said unit being constructed of a pluralityof sheet members arranged face to face and secured together at pointsremoved from the bounding edges of the sheet members to providesubstantially parallel sheetlilce gripping aws marginally of the unit.

2. A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set ofselectively engageable units; said unit being constructed of a pluralityof sheet members arranged face to face and secured together at differentdistances inwardly of the bounding edges of the unit to establishdifferent marginal portions of one sheet member as aw elements ofdifferent sizes for coacting with jaw elements of similar sizes formedmarginally of the other sheet member.

3. A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set ofselectively engageable units; said unit including a plurality of sheetmembers of substantially the same outline of elastically flexiblematerial, and wire staples securing the sheet members together insubstantially matching relation to establish resilient gripping jawsbetween said staples and a boundary of the unit.

4. A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set ofselectively 'engageable units; said unit including a plurality of sheetmembers of relatively stili' flexible material and of substantially thesame outline, arranged in substantially matching relation, and meanssecuring said sheet members together along lines wholly spaced from anyboundary of either member to establish resilient gripping jaws betweensaid means and the perimeter of the unit.

A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set of selectivelyengageable units; said unit including a plurality of polygonalsubstantially identical sheet members of elastically flexible materialarranged face to face in substantially matching relation, and meanssecuring the sheet members together along lines opposite thecorners ofthe unit to establish resilient grippingjaws between said means and theperimeter of the unit.

6. A constructor unit for atoy of the type including a set ofselectively engageable units; said unit including a plurality ofsubstantially square, flat and unfolded sheet membersarranged face toface 'in edge matching relation, and spaced wire staples securing thesheet members together near their corners to provide marginal grippingjaws, the lines of such staples substantially paralleling diagonal linesof the square and disposed so as to locate a portion of one staple toact as a throat stop for the jaw at one side of the unit andto locateanother portion of said staple to actas a throat stop for the aw at theside of the unit adjoining the side just mentioned.

7. A constructor unit for a toy of the type including a set ofselectively engageable units; said unit including a plurality ofpolygonal substantially identical sheet members arranged face to faceinsubstantially matching relation, and means securing the sheet memberstogether along lines opposite the corners of the unit, one of the sheetmembers being cut away at one of its corners to permit the protrusion ofthe corresponding corner of the other sheet member.

ROY S. KNAGGS.

